The Top Companies WNW Creatives Would Kill to Work for Full-Time 2017

WORKING NOT WORKING

Since launching a new and improved Working Not Working at the start of 2017, we’ve seen our community’s curated talent pool more than double. With an increasingly formidable crowd of tastemakers and influencers on hand across the globe, we’d be foolish not to listen to them and selfish not to share what they have to say with you. WNW is all about bringing the highest possible caliber of creative talent to studios, agencies, tech giants, startups, brands, and nonprofits. But we’re equally invested in introducing the most forward-thinking companies to our ever-hungry creative talent.

That’s why we surveyed our members for the fourth year in a row, asking them which companies they’d kill to work for full-time. So we know who wants to work where, and what matters most to them when considering a job. Also, many of our members are fervent in their desire to maintain their freedom, which provides added weight and a litmus test for identifying only the companies that earn the most enthusiasm in creative circles.

Below, we list the top 50 most popular companies out of the more than 600 receiving votes. But first, a bow to the royalty of this survey. Those whose names have graced the results all 4 years. You know who you are. And so should everyone else: 72andSunny, Airbnb, Apple, Barton F. Graf, BBDO, Buck, Disney, Droga5, Google, IDEO, Mother, NASA, Nike, Patagonia, Pentagram, Pixar, Sagmeister & Walsh, SpaceX, Tesla, and Wieden+Kennedy. Make sure to check out the 2014, 2015, and 2016 results. We’d also like to quickly note that what our members possess in creative capacity they lack equally in spelling skills. One of the most popular companies was also the most consistently misspelled. Congratulations to Weden+Kennedy, Weiden+Kennedy, Widen+Kennedy, Wiede + Kennedy, plus Wieden-Kennedy for all making the list.

Next, a warm welcome to the following companies making the list for the first time: Amazon, Chandelier Creative, Collins, Everlane, Instagram, Mailchimp, MediaMonks, and Oddfellows. You’re about to become a lot more popular on the internet. We predict that soon “Amazon” and “Instagram” will become household names.

When considering a job which factor is MOST important to you?

For the second consecutive year, “Creative Opportunity” is the leading factor in considering a job (60%), greatly outpacing other factors like “The Team” (11%), “Compensation Package” (6%) and “Company Reputation” (6%). The work itself and the creative’s chance to flex his or her creative muscles heavily outweighs all other considerations.

What would make you leave a job?

“Boring/Unchallenging Work” is the primary reason our members listed for why they would leave a job (39%), followed by “Bad Chemistry with Coworkers/Managers” (27%), “Limited Opportunity for Advancement“ (13%), and “Excessive Hours” (11%).

Location, Location, Location: Three things our members don’t care much about. Location isn’t likely to make or break their taking the job (3%), or lead to them leaving one (2%). Same goes for the commute.

Changes, Concerns, & "The Unstoppable Takeover of Memes"

For the first time, as a response to the sea change that was 2017, we asked our members what they see changing most in their respective industries. The responses are wide-ranging, from concerns about decreased salaries to diminishing life-and-work balance to industry-wide perceptions about aging (“I'll be getting older and people don't like that”).

There are also consistent concerns from photographers about the advancing camera capabilities of cellphones mimicking their professional skillsets. “Hires based primarily on social followings” is a consideration voiced by creatives across all titles. “Net neutrality screwing it all up” was also brought up, as was “data having a greater role in briefs.” “Being a hybrid will be less of a plus and become the barrier to entry” and “the unstoppable takeover of memes into the design industry” are other noted concerns from our members.

Are you worried about automation and AI taking over your job...

Every day in the news, we see breakthroughs in automation and AI, and it gets us wondering if we’re all replaceable. But our members aren’t fretting. When asked if they’re worried about automation and AI taking over their jobs, 76% replied, “No, and if those robots try, they’ll have to kill me.” We thought we were building a nice pool of elite talent but we’re clearly building a creative army for the resistance.